DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/6/26 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Due to communications filed 4/6/26, the following is a non-final office action. Claims 1, 5 and 9 are amended. Claims 13-15 are new. Claims 1-15 are pending in this application and are rejected as follows.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102
and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory
basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of
rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same
under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections
set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is
not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention
and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the
claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention
was made.
Claim(s) 1-12, 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SAKON (JP 2017182326 A), ad further in view of XU ET AL (CN 110443923 A), and further in view of RAFTIS (WO 2019006503 A), and further in view of Sun et al (CN 110443923 A).
As per claim 1, SAKON discloses:
at least one memory storing one or more instructions; and at least one processor configured to
execute the one or more instructions, (SAKON: "a register DB (database) server 7 that is connectable to
the mobile terminal via a network; memory capacity of the mobile terminal");
obtain a second face image of a user who uses the one or more services; and
(SAKON (JP 2017182326 A): SOLUTION: " and a collation unit that implements processing of collating
the face information transmitted from the register DB server with the shot face image within the
terminal. As a result of the collation processing in the collation unit, when the face information and the
face image coincide with each other and the information about the qualification is judged valid, the
authenticated person is authenticated to be the legitimate proprietary of the qualification, and a right to
be granted by the qualification is given to the authenticated person), ALSO SEE "perform a matching
operation based on the face image of the first user obtained from the second camera and the checked-
in user images in the second collection of images");
and register gender information of the user who has performed the check-in process as gender
information of the permitted user, wherein the registering the first face image comprises performing an
operating to store the first face image as the face image of the permitted user allowed to use the one or
more services at the facility; permit use of the one or more services when a second face authentication
is successful and when the gender information of the permitted user meets the use conditions of the
services, (SAKON (JP 2017182326 A) discloses in: ABSTRACT: "The mobile terminal includes: a reception
unit that receives the information about the qualification and the face information from the register DB
server via the network; a storage unit that stores a face image of an authenticated person shot by using
the camera function"; BACKGROUND-ART: "In the present invention, "qualification" can be defined as
the right or authority obtained by the person, and "qualification" is to prove the qualification, for
example, obtained by purchase, gift, assignment, etc. SOLUTION: An authentication system comprises: a
portable mobile terminal 13 that has a camera and communication functions; and a register DB
(database) server 7 that is connectable to the mobile terminal via a network. In the register DB server,
information about a qualification to be authenticated, and face information on a legitimate proprietary
of the qualification are registered. The mobile terminal includes: a reception unit that receives the
information about the qualification and the face information from the register DB server via the
network; a storage unit that stores a face image of an authenticated person shot by using the camera
function; and a collation unit that implements processing of collating the face information transmitted
from the register DB server with the shot face image within the terminal. As a result of the collation
processing in the collation unit, when the face information and the face image coincide with each other
and the information about the qualification is judged valid, the authenticated person is authenticated to
be the legitimate proprietary of the qualification, and a right to be granted by the qualification is given
to the authenticated person; ALSO SEE THE FOLLOWING FOR THE AUTHENTICAITON/QUALIFICATION
BEING FOR THE USE OF A SERVICE: "The facility user (qualified user) 1 applies for use at the facility 12
(T6). In such an environment, the place where the use facility 12 exists is defined as the qualification
authentication place 8 of the present invention. More specifical in order for the user 1 to apply for the
use of the facility, the point standing in front of the staff is the actual authentication place. At that point,
the clerk shoots the face of the user 1 with the mobile terminal 13 and authenticates whether or not the
user 1 in front of the user has a legitimate qualification to use the ticket. Note that this authentication is
not authentication of whether or not the user who has the ticket is the person himself / herself, but
whether or not the user who has applied for the ticket has a valid use qualification for the ticket
provided at the ticket store 11; ALSO SEE THE FOLLOWING FOR THE DEVICE:
"If the face image of the person to be authenticated photographed using the mobile terminal on the
authentication side matches the face information sent from the server device, the qualification given to
the person to be authenticated by the information on the qualification 3. The qualification
authentication according to claim 2, further comprising an approval information input unit for inputting
into the mobile terminal on the authenticating side the approval information indicating consent for
exercising the qualification when the authenticated person exercises system."; ALSO SEE THE
FOLLOWING FOR GENDER INFORMATION: "In addition, when an unspecified number of persons to be
authenticated are targeted, depending on the nature of the qualification to be authenticated,
qualification holders corresponding to this may be collectively received. In the case where a large
number of users visit at the same time, in consideration of the memory capacity of the mobile terminal,
each certifier (person in charge) is assigned to each terminal (for example, alphabet, age, gender, birth).
The user may be authenticated in an empty space by guiding the user.");
wherein the second face authentication is based on the first face image and the second face
image, (SAKON (JP 2017182326 A): SOLUTION: and a collation unit that implements processing of
collating the face information transmitted from the register DB server with the shot face image within
the terminal. As a result of the collation processing in the collation unit, when the face information and
the face image coincide with each other and the information about the qualification is judged valid, the
authenticated person is authenticated to be the legitimate proprietary of the qualification, and a right to
be granted by the qualification is given to the authenticated person), ALSO SEE "perform a matching
operation based on the face image of the first user obtained from the second camera and the checked-
in user images in the second collection of images");
SAKON does not disclose the following limitations, however, XU et al discloses:
obtain a first face image of a user using a check-in terminal at a facility, (XU ET AL: "the first
information collecting point is set at least comprises human face image collecting module on the hotel
foreground area"; ALSO See claim 1 of XU et al: "the first information collecting point is set at least
comprises human face image collecting module on the hotel foreground area, face detecting identifying
module of the foreground self-service terminal device, extracting face image information"; ALSO SEE XU
et al, "In this step, the feature calculating similarity should be beneficial compared to data, algorithm is
simple, that is to say the face judging authentication of whether the identified face to be belong to the
same person, the identification threshold value is set toa low similarity.. for calculating and obtaining
the similarity of the human face feature vector and a certificate photograph system to the extracted
human face feature vector, by to obtain the identification result and the threshold value. is greater than
or equal to threshold similarity, then this indicates that the certificate is certificate, identity
authentication is successful, or else, the identity authentication is failed);
identify the user by a first face authentication using the first face image and a pre-stored image,
and perform a check-in process of the user, (See claim 1 of XU et al: "at the hotel entrance, based on
monitoring video intelligent terminal collects entering all the human face data hotel, wherein said video
intelligent monitoring terminalis an active face detection, it at least includes a face detection module, a
face image collecting module; human face image data of the video intelligent terminal transmits the
collected is sent to the server for further processing and stored in the face database.. the first
information collecting point is set at least comprises human face image collecting module on the hotel
foreground area, face detecting identifying module of the foreground self-service terminal device
extracting face image information field and comparing the human face image within a predetermined
information face database stored in the reservation system by face detecting identifying module,
according to the similarity judging whether it is the same human face, by matching, configured guest
and granted by the system based on the access right of the face"; ALSO SEE Xu et al: "Specifically, after
obtaining the human face image and extracting the characteristic value in the area, a face identification
module transfers the stored characteristic value in the face database for similarity matching of low
threshold value...");
register the first face image of a user who has performed the check-in process as a face image of
a permitted user who is allowed to use one or more services of a predetermined equipment at the
facility, (See claim 1 of XU et al: S4 room entrance guard area, to open the room access based on human
face identification with high);
send a control signal to trigger a lock to open a barrier: (XU et al: "wherein the intelligent entrance
guard of the invention is divided into an elevator, stairs and other position of public entrance guard
system and guest access system. public access system and guest access system should at least comprise
processing server and an embedded device terminal, the embedded device terminal can be fixed beside
the entrance guard, for information acquisition, access control switch, a processing server for photos
uploaded to the terminal for matching, comparing, identifying, matching is successful, sending the door
opening signal to the embedded device");
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed
to include the above limitations as taught by XU ET AL in the systems of SAKON et al, since the claimed
invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would
have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have
recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
SAKON does not disclose:
output a message to the user to input reservation information of the user in response to a
determination that the first face image of the user does not match the pre- stored image, wherein the at
least one processor does not output the message in response to a determination that the first face
image matches the pre-stored image;
However, RAFTIS (WO 2019006503 A) discloses: "At this time, a camera 16 located at the point of entry
captures a picture of the boarding passenger face and this image is compared with the image taken of
the passenger associated with the retrieved N FC tag details at check-in, and if a discrepancy is found an
alert notification is triggered. At step 144, the passenger or crew confirm by touchscreen selection that
the tag details are correct in respect of the passenger attempting to board"
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed
to include the above limitations as taught by RAFTIS in the systems of SAKON et al, since the claimed
invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would
have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have
recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
SAKON does not disclose:
wherein the processor is further configured to: determine, based on the reservation information input by the user, whether a reservation exists, and perform the check-in process using the reservation information input by the user.
However, SUN et al discloses: (Claim 1: “When the guest in hotel reservation as reservation and reservation information completely on the system. extracting face image information field and comparing the human face image within a predetermined information face database stored in the reservation system by face detecting identifying module, according to the similarity judging whether it is the same human face, by matching, configured guest and granted by the system based on the access right of the face, step S2: check-in stage, the second information collecting point for face recognition to intelligent access by said second information collecting point is set on the common access region of the elevator or stairs leading to the room region, the access control area is provided with intelligent access can perform face detection and recognition, wherein when the second information acquisition point collected face image, at least a group of face image obtained is sent to the backend server to the face feature information extraction and registration check-in”);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed
to include the above limitations as taught by SUN et al in the systems of SAKON et al, since the claimed
invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would
have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have
recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
As per claim 2, SAKON discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to display to inform the permitted user that the
services to use are incorrect in a case that it is determined that the user is making a mistake on the
services to use, (SAKON, (In the case where the ticket (qualification) plays only the role as an admission
ticket (pattern (C1) in FIG. 6), the authenticator only needs to determine the identity and whether or not
there is admission. Therefore, the mobile terminal (13 in FIG. 1) in that case may have a function as
shown in FIG. That is, the functions required for the mobile terminal 13 include the camera function 15
for photographing the face of the person to be authenticated, the authentication program execution
unit 16, and the face information and qualification information of the qualification holder used for
verification at the time of authentication. The information receiving unit 17 received from the
registration DB server 7, the face image storage unit 18 storing the face image of the person to be
authenticated photographed by the camera, the face image of the person to be authenticated and the
qualification sent from the registration DB server 7 A collation unit 19 that determines whether the
owner's face information matches/disagrees, an authentication result output unit 21 that outputs an
authentication result according to the collation result, and at least the data of the face image storage
unit 18 and the received face information after the end of the authentication And an information
erasing unit 22 for erasing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed
to include the above limitations as taught by SAKON et al in the systems of XU ET AL, since the claimed
invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would
have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have
recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
As per claim 3, SAKON discloses:
wherein the second face authentication is be performed only on the users who have checked in
at the facility, (SAKON (JP 2017182326 A): perform a matching operation based on the face image of the
first user obtained from the second camera and the checked-in user images in the second collection of
images");
As per claim 4, SAKON discloses: wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
collate the second image with only the face images of the user who is to be permitted to use the
service; and determine whether or not they are the same person, (SAKON (JP 2017182326 A):
SOLUTION: and a collation unit that implements processing of collating the face information
transmitted from the register DB server with the shot face image within the terminal. As a result of the
collation processing in the collation unit, when the face information and the face image coincide with
each other and the information about the qualification is judged valid, the authenticated person is
authenticated to be the legitimate proprietary of the qualification, and a right to be granted by the
qualification is given to the authenticated person);
As per claim 5, this claim recites limitations similar to those disclosed in independent claim 1
and is therefore rejected for similar reasons.
As per claim 6, SAKON discloses:
displaying to inform the permitted user that the services to use are incorrect in a case that it is
determined that the user is making a mistake on the services to use, (SAKON discloses: (In the case
where the ticket (qualification) plays only the role as an admission ticket (pattern (C1) in FIG. 6), the
authenticator only needs to determine the identity and whether or not there is admission. Therefore,
the mobile terminal (13 in FIG. 1) in that case may have a function as shown in FIG. That is, the functions
required for the mobile terminal 13 include the camera function 15 for photographing the face of the
person to be authenticated, the authentication program execution unit 16, and the face information and
qualification information of the qualification holder used for verification at the time of authentication.
The information receiving unit 17 received from the registration DB server 7, the face image storage unit
18 storing the face image of the person to be authenticated photographed by the camera, the face
image of the person to be authenticated and the qualification sent from the registration DB server 7 A
collation unit 19 that determines whether the owner's face information matches/disagrees, an
authentication result output unit 21 that outputs an authentication result according to the collation
result, and at least the data of the face image storage unit 18 and the received face information after
the end of the authentication And an information erasing unit 22 for erasing).
As per claim 7, SAKON discloses:
wherein the second face authentication is be performed only on the users who have checked in
at the facility, ("perform a matching operation based on the face image of the first user obtained from
the second camera and the checked-in user images in the second collection of images");
As per claim 8, SAKON discloses:
collating the second image with only the face images of the user who is to be permitted to use
the service; and determining whether or not they are the same person, (SAKON (JP 2017182326 A):
SOLUTION: "...and a collation unit that implements processing of collating the face information
transmitted from the register DB server with the shot face image within the terminal. As a result of the
collation processing in the collation unit, when the face information and the face image coincide with
each other and the information about the qualification is judged valid, the authenticated person is
authenticated to be the legitimate proprietary of the qualification, and a right to be granted by the
qualification is given to the authenticated person);
As per claim 9, this claim recites limitations similar to those disclosed in independent claim 1
and is therefore rejected for similar reasons.
As per claim 10, SAKON discloses:
wherein the facility management method further comprising:
displaying to inform the permitted user that the services to use are incorrect in a case that it is
determined that the user is making a mistake on the services to use, (SAKON discloses: (In the case
where the ticket (qualification) plays only the role as an admission ticket (pattern (C1) in FIG. 6), the
authenticator only needs to determine the identity and whether or not there is admission. Therefore,
the mobile terminal (13 in FIG. 1) in that case may have a function as shown in FIG. That is, the functions
required for the mobile terminal 13 include the camera function 15 for photographing the face of the
person to be authenticated, the authentication program execution unit 16, and the face information and
qualification information of the qualification holder used for verification at the time of authentication.
The information receiving unit 17 received from the registration DB server 7, the face image storage unit
18 storing the face image of the person to be authenticated photographed by the camera, the face
image of the person to be authenticated and the qualification sent from the registration DB server 7 A
collation unit 19 that determines whether the owner's face information matches/disagrees, an
authentication result output unit 21 that outputs an authentication result according to the collation
result, and at least the data of the face image storage unit 18 and the received face information after
the end of the authentication And an information erasing unit 22 for erasing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed
to include the above limitations as taught by XU ET AL in the systems of SAKON et al, since the claimed
invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would
have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have
recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
As per claim 11, SAKON discloses:
wherein the second face authentication is be performed only on the users who have checked in
at the facility, (SAKON (JP 2017182326 A): perform a matching operation based on the face image of the
first user obtained from the second camera and the checked-in user images in the second collection of
images");
As per claim 12, SAKON discloses:
wherein the facility management method further comprising:
collating the second image with only the face images of the user who is to be permitted to use
the service; and determining whether or not they are the same person, (SAKON (JP 2017182326 A):
SOLUTION: " and a collation unit that implements processing of collating the face information
transmitted from the register DB server with the shot face image within the terminal. As a result of the
collation processing in the collation unit, when the face information and the face image coincide with
each other and the information about the qualification is judged valid, the authenticated person is
authenticated to be the legitimate proprietary of the qualification, and a right to be granted by the
qualification is given to the authenticated person);
As per claim 14, SAKON doesn’t disclose:
the first face image is obtained from a first camera at the check-in terminal, the second face image is obtained from a second camera at the predetermined equipment, the registering the first face image further comprises changing a flag related to the one or more services available to the permitted user, and the second face authentication comprises a matching operation by comparing a first feature value extracted from the second face image with one or more second feature values extracted from one or more face images of one or more users who have performed the check-in process.
However, XU et al discloses:
In the invention, further, the self-service terminal device is further provided with a card reader module and a result display module. wherein the identity certificate information can be acquired through the image collecting system, also can be obtained by the card reader module. a result display module displays the compared result or prompt again for image acquisition and other information.
step S2: check-in stage: the second information collecting point for face recognition by intelligent entrance guard. the elevator or stairs leading to the guest area of common gate control region set based on intelligent access of face detection and recognition, wherein in the access position is provided with at least two groups of image collecting device for face detection and recognition. the common access region is a second information acquisition (preferably, set more than two group of image acquisition device for human face detection and identification).
step S3: room area in the third information collecting point for face detecting identifying screening abnormal person. wherein the third information collecting point is after the public entrance guard area, elevator or stair exit of each floor of room area. high definition camera at the information acquisition point is one or more of the server of the human face detecting identifying module and is used for face detection and recognition to identify selecting those following the registered guest so as to enter the room area by non-registering personal public access.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed
to include the above limitations as taught by XU ET AL in the systems of SAKON et al, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
As per claim 15, SAKON does not disclose:
wherein the reservation information is configured to include at least one of a reservation number, a
membership ID, a name of a guest, a gender of the guest, an accommodation date, a number of
guests, an accommodation charge, a scheduled room number, and a user's e-mail address.
However, XU et al discloses: “Further, when the guest is non-member staff temporary check-in, the information stored in the face database reserved automatically after a period of time to be deleted. wherein, the retention time may be one year. in the information retention time, human face image when the guest again reservation or check-in registration, the server according to the name provided by the guest, certificate number and other associated information automatically calling out the last check-in when the pre-stored human face image information and comparing with the collected field; if the two are matched, without again collecting the identity certificate information such as personal information, video information of the last memory is completely predetermined information”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed
to include the above limitations as taught by XU ET AL in the systems of SAKON et al, since the claimed
invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would
have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have
recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see arguments/remarks/amendments, filed 4/6/26, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-12 being rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SAKON (JP 2017182326 A), ad further in view of XU ET AL (CN 110443923 A), and further in view of RAFTIS (WO 2019006503 A), have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made further in view of Sun et al (CN 110443923 A). Claim(s) 1-12, and new claims 14-15 is/are now rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SAKON (JP 2017182326 A), ad further in view of XU ET AL (CN 110443923 A), and further in view of RAFTIS (WO 2019006503 A), and further in view of Sun et al (CN 110443923 A). Claim 13 is objected to as shown above in the Office Action.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Akiba Robinson whose telephone number is 571-272-6734 and email is Akiba.Robinsonboyce@USPTO.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 6:30am-4:30pm.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner's supervisor, Nathan Uber can be reached on 571-270-3923. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is (703) 305-3900.
May 11, 2026
/AKIBA K ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3628
Prosecution Insights